This morning was the most gorgeous dawn I've seen in a long while. I headed outside post-workout, and the sun had only barely begun to light the horizon in a silver and orange line. The thin crescent moon hid behind thin clouds, and the WIND! We always have a little wind pushing us around here in Kansas, but this morning it pounded at the trees and houses, roaring like an eight-lane freeway.

I'm in a decent mood, despite Spring Break being over and the university is crawling with insectsstudents again. The spring ladybugs are out full force, too, getting in through all the tiny cracks in the building so they can have their little parties on the ceiling. The weekend was grand, although I did just about nothing other than read, chill on the internet, and hang with nataliesee. I decided to let myself have a guilt-free break from writing while the CPs read the first 10K of Thomas All to make sure I'm not sucking as badly as I think. So far, so good. brennayovanoff was quick with the "don't worry, you don't suck" (actually she used the words fun and pretty) and m_stiefvater handed me my structural problems (woo!) so today I'm feeling very tender and loving toward my WIP (and my cps). That will probably only last through the first new 500 words this afternoon.

Maggie's holding critique partner hook up session on her blog, so if you're looking for one, go! Audition! I can't recommend finding good cps enough. There's something freakishly comforting about having someone who will read your writing and say, "this is what you know, but for some reason can't see without me peeling back all the layers for you."

(The key for me was finding two people who are basically at the same level of competency as I am and have the same sense of humor. We might be in slightly different places with regards to publication, but our skills and needs converge very nicely. For humor - let me just say it's a lot easier to tease someone into realizing what's wrong with their wip than it is to just flat out tell them. And I can take critique better when you make fun of me. I am *certain* this approach would not work for everyone.)

In slightly related news, I am now easily found all over the internets.

On GoodReads, where I'll post my book reviews and link up with other people and their reviews for some good old book-love.

And on Twitter, where I shall frequently attempt to be pithy.